#677: Lean on Pete / Top 5 Horse Scenes

Update: 2018-04-20

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UK writer-director Andrew Haigh has spent the first part of his career quietly defying expectations. With his feature breakout "Weekend," he crafted an intimate tale about two young gay men spending a weekend getting to know each other. For his 2015 follow-up, "45 Years," Haigh turned his focus to an aging husband and wife haunted by the past. (Charlotte Rampling was nominated for an Oscar for her performance.) And now Haigh's latest takes another surprising turn, with his adaptation of the Willy Vlautin novel LEAN ON PETE, which chronicles the relationship between a displaced teen and a past-his-prime race horse. But true to Haigh's work to date, PETE is a clear-eyed, unsentimental piece of work that - like his other films - is still capable of delivering a punch to the gut.

On this week's show, Adam and Josh have a review of LEAN ON PETE and, in the tradition of inspired Top 5 topics like Bicycle Scenes and Movie Redheads, they share their Top 5 Horse Scenes (horses on stage! horses in the jungle! ship-wrecked horses!). Plus Chicago critic Steve Prokopy drops by to share some details about the upcoming Chicago Critics Film Festival (May 4th-10th).